Alternation works; Nates Mineshaft confirmed for Foster

Weighted at one pound lighter than the top weight Wise Dan, Alternation will

carry 122 pounds in Saturday's Stephen Foster and will be ridden by Luis

Quinonez, who has been aboard the colt for nine of his career starts, including

seven of his eight victories.

Trainer Austin Smith confirmed Tuesday that Nates Mineshaft, a 7 1/4-length

winner of both the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap in his most recent start and

the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap earlier at Fair Grounds, will compete in

Saturday night's Stephen Foster.

Nates Mineshaft's lone off-the-board performance this year came over the

Churchill Downs track in the Grade 2 Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Day when he

finished sixth of eight.

"That was more my fault than the horse's," Smith said. "There was some speed

in the race and I told (jockey) Jesse (Campbell) to rate him. At Lone Star, we

let him roll (on the lead) and it worked out a lot better."

Smith said Campbell, who was aboard Nates Mineshaft for his last six races,

will have the Foster mount.

Mission Impazible has spent a good portion of his career at Churchill Downs

and was doing well in that familiar setting Tuesday morning after arriving at

the Louisville track Monday to continue his preparations for his second

consecutive bid for the Stephen Foster.

"He arrived in good shape," said assistant trainer and Louisville-native Whit

Beckman, who traveled with the horse from New York for trainer Todd Pletcher.

"He jogged a mile this morning and he looked great."

Mission Impazible, who is stabled in the stakes barn (Barn 17), will be

making his sixth start at Churchill Downs in the Stephen Foster and, while he

has yet to record a victory over the track, he has run very well beneath the

Twin Spires. His five starts include a third in the Grade 3 Kentucky Juvenile as

a two-year-old and runner-up finishes in both the Stephen Foster and Grade 1

Clark Handicap last year during his four-year-old campaign.

"We feel like he has good form (at Churchill Downs) and this is a good

opportunity to take a shot at a Grade 1," Pletcher said via phone from his barn

at Belmont Park. "The horse is doing really well, so we're giving it a try."

A five-year-old gray or roan son of Unbridled's Song, Mission Impazible's

career is highlighted by wins in the 2010 Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and 2011 Grade

2 New Orleans Handicap.

He will be ridden Saturday by Javier Castellano, who was aboard Mission

Impazible in last year's Clark and Stephen Foster, and will carry 116 pounds.

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